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“Because,” I say, thinking about the offending pizza. “This girl in my class named Cindy, her parents are divorced, and her mother brought New York-style pizza and her father brought Pizza Hut for her birthday party last Friday. We got two slices, one of each, and I was able to tell the difference. New York-style pizza is thinner, tastes better, and the slices are bigger. Pizza Hut pizza taste like cheesy soap, and is thick with more bread than cheese. One kid named Lance said that it sucked, and I agree.”
“Well, Lance is an idiot and doesn’t know what he is talking about. If I see him, I’ll tell him that to his face.”
“Why are you getting so mad?”
“I’m not. Lance is stupid and doesn’t know what he is talking about, and you don’t either. Pizza Hut is the best because it tastes the same wherever you go,” he says, making his point. “New York-style pizza is a style of pizza and doesn’t mean everywhere you go it tastes the same.”
I stayed quiet not knowing that. How would I know? He doesn’t know it was my first time trying any type of pizza from anywhere. So, I let it go and notice by the way the sun was setting that it was time to get going before my stepfather showed up at the house. If he found out that I wasn’t home, there would be hell to pay, and I was just recovering from the last time.
“I gotta go.”
“Why?”
“My dad is about to get home and I have to make sure I get my chores done.”
He makes a face like he smelled something bad. “Chores?”
I nod. “Yeah, chores.”
He shrugs his shoulders and dusts his khaki pants as he stands from the wooden crates he placed between two trees to begin making a treehouse. “Will you come back tomorrow?”
I pick up the bag with the empty plastic water bottle I use to get water from the water fountain by the public park on the way home, and place one foot on the wooden fence before hoisting myself over the panel and look across. “I’ll try, but I will come back.”
He looks at his feet and then looks up at me with his straight black hair and pitch-black eyes. “Promise? It’s okay if you don’t like Pizza Hut, but I still think that kid Lance is a dick.”
I grin. “I promise.”
“What is she doing here?” a girl says to my left. I think her name is Trish. Part of the cheerleading team. Total bitch and part of Jen and Nicole’s little squad. Dumb as a rock. She got a C on the last quiz in class, and that is because she has some other kid giving her the answers to the test questions. They were on the board.
“She lives here, genius.” Abby’s voice floats over from my right. I didn’t see her sitting on the chair because of the column.
Abby turns to look at me and gives me a soft smile. “Hey, are you hungry? Ky ordered pizza. I thought maybe Tyler knew what you liked, but he didn’t, so Ky just ordered.”
I look at the Pizza Hut boxes spread out on the massive coffee table, and then Tyler speaks up. “Sorry, Rubiana. I wasn’t sure.” He swallows, and I think he feels embarrassed for some reason, but I could have it all wrong.
He points to the boxes, and I can tell that there isn’t much left. It’s also obvious that no one had any intention of offering me anything, including Tyler, but that’s okay, I’ll find something else in the kitchen. I’m not used to being around this much food, much less having anything delivered. “Go ahead. You can have some.”
I back up a couple of steps and Ky’s eyes meet mine. “It’s Pizza Hut. Everyone likes Pizza Hut.”
My eyes narrow at him because he remembered. Out of all the things he could have ordered, he made sure he ordered something he knows I don’t like. My stomach decides to betray me and growls.
Ky raises a brow. “Hungry?”
His tone has a hint of sarcasm, and I know it’s his way of making fun of me without making it obvious that we have history. He wants to force me to take a cold slice of pizza that he knows I don’t like and eat it. But I won’t give in.
I have been forced to do things I wasn’t comfortable with all my life, and I’m tired of people using me, hurting me. There is a reason I hate that type of pizza, and it wasn’t just because of Cindy’s parents. It was something more disturbing than that, and my mind drifts back to that place.
“Come sit on your daddy’s lap. I’ll buy you Pizza Hut if you do. I’ll even get you your own pie.” He smiles and his eyes are like two saucers staring off into space. “Come here, Rubiana. Sit here. Your mommy and daddy are passed out.” I look at the dirty brown couch, and they are both on their sides. I found out why they always end up on their sides when they smoke the glass pipe. It’s so they don’t choke if they throw up. It must be heroine this time. My eyes find my stepfather’s friend from work named Mike. “They won’t know. You can call me Daddy Mike.”
“Rubiana?”
“Rubiana!”
I look up and my eyes are blurry. I blink and place a trembling hand over my face, feeling the wet tears I hadn’t realized were sliding down my cheeks. “I-I’m sorry,” I whisper. I slide my hand across to wipe the moisture from my face and look up and see Stephen.
His concerned expression turns angry when he looks over at Tyler. “What did you do?”
Tyler raises his hands up. “I didn’t do anything. We asked her if she wanted some pizza. That’s it. She just backed up and spaced out. Then she started crying.” Tyler shakes his head. “No one has done anything to her. I swear.”
